The X-Files #1Review

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The only good X-File you'll find this century.

By Jesse Schedeen

Wildstorm is focusing more and more of their publishing might on licensed properties these days. In the last few weeks alone they've debuted tie-ins to Gears of War, Mirror's Edge, and Push, to say nothing of their numerous other projects. Clearly there's good money to be made in this area, as Gears #1 is apparently going to go down as the best-selling comic of the year by a huge margin. But quantity, in these cases, seems almost inversely proportional to quality. These licensed comics have been invariably terrible in my experience. Is it even possible to produce a licensed comic that can both move big numbers and be a hit with critics?

I don't know if The X-Files can be that comic, but it certainly satisfies the second criteria for me. This summer's #0 issue was a ray of light amid a sea of junk, and issue #1 is really no different. X-philes hungry for something, anything that can hearken back to the show's classic era, finally can shelve those DVD's and sink into a new project. The X-Files #1 rekindles my love for the show in a way the recent movie utterly failed to do.

Much like issue #0, this comic is set at some indeterminate point in the Season 3-4 time period, definitely the golden age of the show by most assessments. This is an era before Agents Doggett and Reyes clogged up the works, before the big conspiracy storyline degenerated into a bunch of convoluted drivel, and before Mulder spent 19 out of every 20 episodes in hiding. This issue begins a fairly standard plot where a desperate woman comes to Agents Mulder and Scully for help. Her brother's apparent suicide may be more than it seems, and it's up to the Dynamic Duo to get to the bottom of things. Perhaps the worst thing that can be said for this issue is that it feels familiar. Mysterious viruses, shadowy government figures, and Mulder's paranoia have all been done many times before. I don't find this to be too much of a fault however. At this point, I'd much rather see an X-Files story play it safe than venture into ridiculous territory.

More importantly, this issue reads like part of a legitimate X-Files episode. This is mostly thanks to Frank Spotnitz sitting in the driver's seat. Spotnitz served as one of the lead writers for the show, so it's safe to say he knows a thing or two about X-Files. Plenty of familiar faces drop by in addition to Mulder and Scully, including the Lone Gunmen and A.D. Skinner. Thankfully, they come across as faithful representations of their television selves. The only problem comes from the narrative structure. It's not clear how much of the seven issue this current storyline will take up. For a good while I expected the story to wrap up by page 22. I have to wonder if Spotnitz is in a bit of a pickle. One issue is too short to tell a satisfying X-Files tale, but seven issues may be too much.

It certainly helps that artist Brian Denham is so good at capturing the look and feel of the show. Granted, he clearly relies on a great deal of photo-referencing to render his characters and locations. That said, most artists go that route use it as a crutch. Denham's pencils are nothing if not consistent, and this is one case where I feel photo-referencing is a benefit to a book. Like the show, the panels are bathed in shadow and cast a perpetual gloomy mood. Like the script, Denham's art isn't groundbreaking, but it's very faithful to the show, and I imagine most fans will be pleased all around.

The X-Files #1

Search for the truth inside this new miniseries based on the hit FOX television show! A research scientist, recently agitated by paranoid fears, is found dead in his suburban D.C. apartment. His sister refuses to accept the coroner's ruling that his death was suicide from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.